


girlfriend

by dryadfiona



Series: tell me when you need me [4]
Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-13
Updated: 2020-03-13
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:27:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23133136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dryadfiona/pseuds/dryadfiona
Summary: Moving in together was supposed to be difficult, if all the articles Rachel read at 3am were to be believed. But this is as easy as breathing.
Relationships: Kate Marsh/Dana Ward, Maxine "Max" Caulfield/Chloe Price, Rachel Amber/Chloe Price, Rachel Amber/Maxine "Max" Caulfield, Rachel Amber/Maxine "Max" Caulfield/Chloe Price
Series: tell me when you need me [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1616788
Comments: 8
Kudos: 94





	girlfriend

Rachel's happy with their new apartment. She's happy with the fact that Max wants them to move in together and Chloe does too, and she wants to live with them, too! She's happy that she's got some modelling gigs lined up in Portland and an application submitted for a paralegal job, she's happy that Max is starting to network, and she's happy that Chloe's new boss recognizes that her girlfriend is a _damn_ fine mechanic.

So why is she so fucking anxious?

She's getting emails from apartments.com and rent.com and some LGBT website, all about moving in together and what to _know_ , and it's not helping. Sure, she knows that sometimes she needs her space, and that the potential for conflict grows as they spend more time together by virtue of how probability works (she's pretty good at math, actually), and that moving in together can test relationships--

 _That's_ what's worrying her. The idea that they'll move into their new place, and decide that Rachel's not as great as she seems, actually. She's used to feeling like she's lying, even if she's honest as she can be with them.

It isn't until she's most of the way through an article entitled _What To Do When Your Partner's Mad And You Don't Have Another Place To Crash At_ that she realizes she's having a full-on anxiety attack.

Normally, she'll wake up Chloe or Max, both of whom are wrapped around her, but she's embarrassed and worried and tired enough that she might just pass out, anyway. Max mutters something nonsensical into the hollow of her throat, and Rachel tries to keep herself from hyperventilating.

"Rachel?" Chloe mumbles. "What're you doing up?"

"Just on my phone," Rachel says, a careful non-answer, proud of the way her voice isn't even wavering.

"Okay," Chloe says, disentangling herself from Max a bit. "What's up?" 

"You know me well," Rachel says.

"That's what being friends for a decade will do," Chloe says. "What's going on?" 

"Has it really been that long?"

"Rachel."

"Fine," Rachel says, trying to stay quiet enough to not wake Max. "I'm just--worried about the new place, I guess."

"Worried about what?" Chloe says.

"That, uh. You guys won't want to stay together after we move in."

"Why wouldn't we want to stay together?" Her words are a little hard to make out, quiet and slurred, but it's comforting. So's the arm Chloe's managed to get around her waist without her noticing.

"I don't know," Rachel says. "Just--hellbrain, you know

"Yeah," Chloe says. "Look, Rachel, we might _not_ stay together forever, you know? But we can't just--stay the same way forever, either."

Max mumbles something again, startling the both of them. 

"You're right," Rachel says, wishing the anxiety would completely melt away like it does in cheesy romance novels. Her heart's still beating a little too fast against her chest, but her breathing's steadier, and she feels more hopeful than scared.

"Okay," Chloe says. "Can we go back to sleep now?"

"Yeah," Rachel says, pulling Chloe in for a quick kiss. "Good night, babe."

"Night," Chloe says, already halfway asleep.

* * *

Max is helping Kate and Dana move into their place in exchange for them helping her the next day, and she's trying not to find it adorable how clearly into each other there are. Kate's smiling more than Max has seen in months, and Dana's face is pink enough that Kate asked her in this concerned voice whether she was feeling okay.

"Fine," Dana says, voice shaky.

_Kate and Dana are being super cute_

_**omg show me** _

**rachel what do you want her to do take a picture of them?**

_**okay i guess not that'd be weird** _

"Max, aren't you supposed to be helping us move?" Kate teases.

"Yeah, sorry! I just--"

"Texting her girlfriends," Dana says with a grin. 

"Yeah," Max admits. "I'll focus, promise."

"It's okay, Max," Kate says with a little smile. "How are you guys doing?"

"Good," Max says shyly. "I mean, we _are_ moving in together."

"People move in together who aren't dating," Dana points out. Max tries not to smile at the way Kate flushes at that.

"Yeah, but--we're good. I mean, Rachel's a little anxious, and so am I--what else is new--but I'm...excited. Happy."

"Aw, Max," Dana says, pulling Max into a quick side-hug. Max doesn't shove her arm off, but she's a little uncomfortable with the attention, and she's happy to grab a box and start helping them move again. 

* * *

Chloe's tired of moving shit, but she can't deny how nice it feels to have all the boxes in an apartment that's hers. It's _hers_. She's not a mostly-unwelcome mooch in her mom's place, anymore, and she has the freedom to do what she wants without her step-douche interjecting.

"Do we wanna start unpacking now?" Rachel wonders out loud.

"We could at least get, like, plates out," Chloe says, as if she knows what she's doing. She's excited, though, energetic even though her muscles ache from carrying shit from the truck all day. "Maybe hang some stuff up."

"Sure," Rachel says, smiling at her. "Max'll appreciate the place looking a little put-together."

"I'll appreciate not having boxes everywhere," Chloe mutters, toe still aching from where she's stubbed it roughly a billion times today. Rachel laughs, loud and lovely. "Are you, uh, feeling better?"

She's not good at the whole comfort thing, but Rachel knows that, and she usually appreciates it when Chloe makes the effort. "Yeah. I mean, still anxious, but I'll be okay. Maybe I can _actually_ see a therapist now." 

"Oh, shit, same," Chloe says, realizing more and more that she's really independent now. She's not paying for this place with Joyce's money, she's paying for it with _hers._ Her job even has health insurance, and while it's pretty shit, it's hers.

"Babe," Rachel says. "This place is _ours_."

Chloe pulls her towards her for a kiss at, naturally, the same time Max unlocks the door with her key.

"Ooh la la," Dana says from behind Max.

Chloe pulls back, not really embarrassed but also not planning on making out with Rachel when there's an audience of someone other than Max.

They unpack for the next few hours, though they break for pizza at some point. Dana risks an arm around Kate's shoulder, and Kate's face is pink for the rest of the day, even after Dana's moved her arm and Rachel's stopped making kissy faces at her. 

At some point when they're all too tired to keep unpacking, Chloe's head on Max's shoulder where they're both slumped against the couch rather than going to the effort of actually getting up on it.

"Hey, Chloe?" Max says.

"Yeah?" Chloe asks.

"I'm really excited to live with you," Max says, quiet enough that Dana and Kate, busy flirting, don't seem to notice. Rachel does, though, smiling softly at her from where she's washing the dishes, oddly excited at the domesticity.

"You too," Chloe says, and Max kisses her forehead.


End file.
